Billed as a photography competition with ‘no gimmicks’, to enter #Streetlife Clifton Cameras simply want you to submit an image that tells a story from the street, whether it’s taken on a digital camera, pinhole, tablet or phone.

#Streetlife is set to run throughout 2015. The competition is split into three sections, each of which has a different street photography theme. You can enter up to five photos in each round.

Win Fujifilm cameras and a trip to Paris

The winners of each section will be awarded a Fujifilm X100T camera worth £1099.99, while the overall competition winner will bag themselves a one-on-one, expenses-paid photowalk in Paris with photographer (and competition judge), Matthew Hart.

Section 1 is now closed. The theme here was ‘Shadows’, with entries needing to include shadows as a fundamental element in the street photo.

The winning image, Passing Through by Jim Moody (shown below) stood out from the crowd because of its high vantage point.

“The strong angles of the buildings added to the great composition of the shot,” says Matt Hart.

“The arrow shaped shadow pointing in to the darkness makes you think, but at the same time you want to know more about the woman standing with her arms folded, making this a great Street image.”

You’ll pick up a host of tips and techniques, as well as getting an insight into how Matt, an Official Fujifilm X-Photographer, spots the photographic potential in everyday street scenes. To book your free place, email Clifton Cameras here.

]]>As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination. Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off May with a new list of exciting photo projects like double exposures, street photography, eye-opening infrared and macro abstracts.

Unlike many of his photojournalist peers who were more fixated on photographing the hardship and the grind of day to day life, Doisneau focused on the irony, playfulness and romantic scenes he saw on the streets.

It was all about those fleeting moments, playful characters and emotional encounters that got Doisneau interested. Shooting mostly in black and white with his 35mm SLR camera Doisneau captured some of the most iconic street images of the 20th century.

Get started today
* Pack light as you don’t want to be weighed down when shooting on the streets. Select one lens and camera body.
* Head out into the streets and find quirky, playful and charismatic people to photograph. Try to capture the decisive moment to get a shot like Doisneau!
* Robert Doisneau published by Taschen is available to buy now.

If you think infrared is a rather predictable technique which has been done to death, think again – this image from Buciegas in Spain by Pedro Fernandez Aguado is sure to delight and inspire.

“I use a Canon EOS 20D converted for infrared,” Pedro explains. “Although there are some excellent IR filters, if you use a modified camera, you can reduce exposure times and get better results.”

His camera is converted to a wavelength of 720nm, which he thinks is a good wavelength to start with. “Other wavelengths below this create more colour casts and allow less freedom in post-processing.”

Pedro also shoots the same scenes with a conventional camera, so he can add elements to the infrared image if appropriate.

“As you can see in this shot, I always try to choose landscapes with green foliage and skies with clouds – the effect is great in infrared,” he continues. “But other elements, such as water and architecture, can also add impact to infrared images.”

Get started today
* There are numerous IR conversion services who advertise online, such as Protech Photographic or Advanced Camera Services.
* Good news for heavy sleepers – you don’t need to get up at dawn for the best light. Pedro shoots around midday.
* Don’t forget the principles of good landscape photo composition, e.g. foreground interest and a strong focal point to satisfy the eye.
* Be patient at the editing stage. As Pedro says, infrared is “a creative art that takes time to learn until you get the desired result.”

Here’s a great creative photography idea – send your digital images (or exposed film) to another photographer to see what they combine it with for funky and sometimes surprising results.

That’s what Russian photographer Denis Yakovlev does, and the double exposures that he creates with his colleagues are really eye catching.

“I don’t have the opportunity to travel around the world, but my film does,” he explains. “I give or send my exposed film to another photographer and together we do crazy multiple exposures fun stuff together in camera and then cross-processing the results.”

While Denis is only in his 20s, he uses quite old techniques, producing multi-layered platinum palladium contact prints on textured paper. As Jim Casper of Lens Culture.com notes, “the ideas reverberate with melancholy, confusion and the discomfort of pulling away from old ways and breaking into the new. Denis seems like a young photographer to watch.”

Get started today
* Whether you shoot digitally or with film, you will need strong start images to begin with, as you will be combining elements from different frames. Not everything will work together.
* Traditionally, double exposure portraits were made by exposing the same frame of film more than once. Photoshop’s Screen Blend mode works in much the same way by multiplying the light values on one layer with those on the layers below.

]]>http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2015/05/03/9-creative-photo-ideas-to-try-in-may-2015/feed/0Still life street photography? Learn how to make a table-top street scene from your portraitshttp://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2015/02/26/still-life-street-photography-learn-make-table-top-street-scene-portraits/
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2015/02/26/still-life-street-photography-learn-make-table-top-street-scene-portraits/#commentsThu, 26 Feb 2015 00:01:59 +0000http://dcw.foxtrot.future.net.uk/?p=587178In this creative photography tutorial we’ll show you how to get arty with your street portraits by designing a table-top street scene silhouette.

]]>In this creative photography tutorial we’ll show you how to get arty with your street portraits by designing a table-top street scene silhouette.

Street photography is a genre that’s great fun, and requires no special kit aside from your camera and a lens. The variety of people and places you’ll come across can be inspirational, and the more street images you shoot, the more your confidence as a photographer will grow.

For this tutorial we’re creating a street image with a difference. We’ve shot real people, then turned their outlines into silhouettes, cut them out, and arranged them to create a street scene. We’ve then photographed the scene, illuminating it with a torch, and combined elements from two shots to create the final image.

If you want to cut out the first part of our tutorial we’ve provided a file of silhouettes ready to print. However, while we’ve provided you with all the start images you need for this project, we recommend you shoot your own images.

The trick with street photography is to keep the shutter speed at around 1/200 sec, and increase the ISO if the light is low.

How to set up your still life street photography scene: steps 1-6

01 Create the silhouettes
Open the cutout start files (or your own images if you’ve shot some) in your photo editing software (we used Photoshop Elements). Take the Quick Selection tool, carefully select the outline of each figure, then go to Edit > Fill Selection, choose Black from the Use menu and hit OK to fill the outline with black. Use the Move tool to drag each figure into a new document, and print it out.

03 Arrange the figures
You’re now ready to arrange the figures to create your street scene. To do this we’ve strung pieces of cotton between two clothes drying racks, and attached the figures to the cotton using masking tape, arranging the figures at different heights and points in the scene to create a 3D effect. Next, set up a white backdrop behind the scene.

04 Free-standing figure
We’re also placing a larger figure in the foreground of our scene, and to support this figure we’ve used a couple of clothes pegs and some masking tape – this will enable us to move the figure around the scene, so that we can experiment with different compositions.

05 Camera settings
Mount your camera onto a tripod. Set your camera to Manual mode, set the ISO to 100, and set the shutter speed to around five seconds – this will give you an aperture of around f/11, but you may need to adjust these settings as you shoot. Use a remote release or the self-timer mode to avoid camera shake.

06 Frame the scene
Enable Live View mode, and set your lens to manual focus. Zoom in on the scene, navigate to the main focal point – the cut-out building in our case – and adjust the focusing ring to make it sharp. Now close the curtains or blinds to darken the room.

]]>As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination. Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off October with a new list of exciting projects like shooting autumn festivals and sport, classic car events, portraits of artists and many more.

As the sun rises above the horizon he will increase this to nine exposures, and once he is happy focusing with autofocus, he switches to manual focus, taping the lens ring to avoid accidental de-focusing.

]]>As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination. Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off September with a new list of exciting projects like shooting late summer portraits, the stillness in a city, boats on the water and many more.

With a major retrospective of Charlie Waite’s images now showing in London, it’s a great time to take some tips from this eminent landscape and travel photographer, and try to apply some of the lessons he’s learned during a long career.

“My number one tip for aspiring landscape photographers is that you need total and dedicated commitment to the image that one is making, and you should see the image as a production,” Charlie explains.

“Then, try not to produce images that in one’s heart one feels insecure about. These images do not turn into anything special if in the first instance one had little confidence in them.

Get started today
* Charlie constantly stresses the importance of photo composition, so think carefully about what you allow in your frame, and don’t just apply the rule of thirds in exactly the same way every time.
* Once you have found a style you like, and other people like, stick with it. “The voice you have is the only voice you need,” advises Charlie.
* However good you get, don’t assume you will make money from landscape photography by selling through stock agencies. Consider other forms of income, and obviously personal projects can be highly rewarding in a different way.

]]>http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/09/01/9-creative-photo-ideas-to-try-in-september-2014/feed/0Behind the Image: Damien Demolder on decisive moments and fortune tellinghttp://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/07/05/behind-the-image-damien-demolder-on-decisive-moments-and-fortune-telling/
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/07/05/behind-the-image-damien-demolder-on-decisive-moments-and-fortune-telling/#commentsSat, 05 Jul 2014 11:00:38 +0000http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/?p=553505Sometimes a spectacular image happens when you least expect it. Damien Demolder explains how playing the active fortune teller and being in the right place with the right camera settings can create a single cohesive moment.

]]>To celebrate the lead up to PhotoLive 2014, we’ll be featuring a different image from each photographer speaking at the event.

Sometimes a spectacular image happens when you least expect it. Damien Demolder explains how playing the active fortune teller and being in the right place with the right camera settings can create a single cohesive moment.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH3 with Leica DG Noctilux 42.5mm f/1.2

Decisive moments – timing in street photography

We have all heard of the decisive moment, and understand that it relates to the split second in that which the multitude of disparate elements within our view come together to form a single harmonised image in which all those individual entities suddenly somehow relate to each other.

When many of us think about this concept we visualise the world moving and the photographer passively standing by waiting to catch what happens next.

To some extent this is true, but the part of the successful photographer is of the active fortune teller who analyses the lines on the palm of the situation to guess what MIGHT come to pass in the seconds and minutes that follow.

When we spend the time to see and to predict we can try to ensure we are in the right place with the right settings on our camera, and prepared to capture that future in a way that communicates the essence of the moment.

I liked this man’s hair and the way the light and dark streaks emphasised his style and shape in the pale overcast evening light, and I hovered around behind him waiting to get a shot.

I wanted him taking a picture down the river, with The Shard softly setting the scene in the background, but I needed to wait for those elements to come together in a single cohesive moment.

He decided to create a sweep panorama with his iPad Mini, and I could see he was going to swing from left to right as he captured the view, so I quickly composed my own view so that I would be ready for the moment his iPad was in the right place.

As I have a building in the shot we need to activate our mental architecture mode, making it essential to keep the camera upright and straight so the viewer doesn’t have to face the distractions of London falling over.

Guessing where the iPad would be I set my AF point for that spot using the Touch AF feature of the camera I was using.

This allows the photographer to position the focus anywhere in the scene by touching that place on the rear screen.

I set a wide aperture of f/1.2 to create a tiny depth of field that would blur the background behind the iPad and even the man’s hair in front of it.

And as he swung the iPad in to position I was ready and just had to trigger the shutter at precisely that moment.

Smoking at the Bank – Tonal contrast for emphasis

If you asked twenty people in the street ‘What’s the best colour to make a white object stand out?”, they would probably all say ‘black’ (except those who know that black isn’t a colour!). It is obvious, isn’t it?

But in the heat and excitement of the moment the street photographer can easily forget the most obvious principles and miss the opportunity to make a scene into an effective piece of communication.

This picture is clearly about the whisps of smoke that appear above the man’s head. We know that because they are probably the first things we notice when we look at the picture.

They are the first things we notice because they stand out, and they stand out because the difference between their brightness and the deep dark shades of the doorway represent the strongest tonal contrast in the scene.

Tonal contrast: brain v camera
When I saw the potential of the shot I’m not sure where the smoke was, but it stood out because my eyes and brain were able to separate the smoke from whatever background it was against, but the camera can’t do that on its own.

When I came to take the picture I adjusted my position so that the light toned smoke would be against a dark toned background – not against the stone wall or the pillar in the distance.

It is this slight shift in my position, and the differences in the tonal values of subject and background that make the shot work. Had the smoke appeared over the wall of the Bank the picture wouldn’t have worked at all.

The reason I moved was because I had thought all that through in the seconds between seeing and taking the shot.

I didn’t just get wow’ed by the smoke, I thought about the best way to get the message to you that the smoke rising from the man’s head looked cool with the light shining through it.

And it is that few seconds of thinking that make the difference and which are so often missing.

Contrast, depth of field and saturation
The shallow depth of field helps, of course, as does the soft light of the rainy day that allowed the camera’s dynamic range to capture the full scale of the tonal values of the scene.

I exposed for the smoke, not for the man’s jacket, because I didn’t want it to appear pure white and featureless.

It was a muted sort of morning, and there are no strong colours in the scene. I’ve desaturated the image it a little more to give it a stronger monochromatic atmosphere. I also cropped square for a classic feel that suits the moderate tones and colours.

Smoking is of course pretty bad for the health of humans, and as prices and prohibition increase fewer and fewer people are doing it. That’s great for the lungs of the nation, but one day scenes like this will be rare. Go out and make the most of smokers while we still have some.

]]>As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination. Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off May with a slew of fun projects like time stack landscapes, photographing spring lambs, indoor wild flowers, changing coastal light and many other creative photography projects that are perfect for this time of year.

On each page you’ll find a stunning image and an explanation from the photographer on how it was made.

Get started today…
* Try shooting a scene with both fixed and moving elements – a church or tower against fast-moving clouds, for instance. Sunset is a great time to try this technique.
* You need to expose for the brightest moving elements – apart from the sun, these will usually be the clouds in a daylight scene. If you over-expose the clouds, you’ll end up with pure white streaks in the sky.
* You need to experiment with the shooting intervals – with faster clouds you need a shorter interval between the shots, and vice versa for slow clouds, otherwise you will capture very little movement.

]]>http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/05/01/9-creative-photo-ideas-to-try-in-may-2014/feed/05 street photography projects every first-timer should tryhttp://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/04/02/street-photography-projects-every-first-timer-should-try/
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/04/02/street-photography-projects-every-first-timer-should-try/#commentsTue, 01 Apr 2014 23:01:31 +0000http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/?p=552484Getting your camera out in public might seem daunting if you’ve never tried it before, but these five street photography projects will get you started right. Armed with our expert street photography tips, you'll soon have the confidence to shoot everything from motion-blur abstracts to candid portraits of strangers.

]]>Getting your camera out in public might seem daunting if you’ve never tried it before, but these five street photography projects will get you started right. Armed with our expert street photography tips, you’ll soon have the confidence to shoot everything from motion-blur abstracts to candid portraits of strangers.

You don’t need to travel to exotic, remote locations to get amazing image. There are plenty of subjects around almost every street corner; you just need to be able to find them.

The very familiarity of your local town or city can mean that it’s all too easy to miss the host of potential photos available on the streets close to home.

So here are five easy street photography projects to help spark your creativity, give you some ideas of great subjects to look for and the right techniques to use for the best results.

Best street photography projects: 01 Candid portraits

All images by Chris Rutter

People pictures present the biggest challenge for the aspiring street photographer, so let’s tackle them first…

Approaching the shot
There are two main ways you can shoot candid portraits. The easiest is to use a long lens and shoot from a distance, so that the subject isn’t aware you’re photographing them.

The advantage of this approach – apart from the fact that it means you don’t have to approach a complete stranger – is that it can result in much more ‘candid’ shots, with natural behaviour and expressions.

Alternatively you can get in much closer, with a wider lens. It is more difficult to get candid results from closer to the subject, as they will be much more likely to react to the camera.

But if you take the time to engage with your subject – by haggling for some produce at market stall, for example – it can give a more intimate and personal feel to your images than shooting from a distance.

Recommended lens
This will depend on whether you want to shoot from close to the subject, or from further away, but a superzoom lens such as an 18-200mm will allow you to shoot both styles without having to waste time change lenses – which may be critical for spur-of-the-moment shots.

Essential settings
As with any portrait, the background is almost as important as the subject, so you need to decide whether to blur the background by using a wide aperture, such as f/2.8, or whether to keep it sharp by using a smaller aperture, such as f/8, which might be the case if the background is relevant, or adds to the story in some way.

In either case, it’s a good idea to use Aperture Priority mode – that way, all you have to do is set the aperture – the camera will then work everything else out automatically, leaving you free to concentrate on framing, composition and so on.

Whether you’re shooting from near or far, you definitely don’t want to waste precious seconds fiddling about with camera settings.

As a rule of thumb, if you’re shooting in sunny conditions, an IS0 of 100 or 200 is probably fine, but if it’s a bit overcast or very early or late in the day, you may need to up it to 400 or even 800.

The good news is that you can check this by shooting something as simple as your hand held out in front of you – so long as the lighting stays fairly constant, you can then set the ISO and forget all about it, which again means not getting bogged down in settings while you’re actually shooting.

Things to watch out for…
Shooting candid street photography isn’t for the faint-hearted, as not everyone will appreciate having their photograph taken.

The main thing to watch out for is how people react to the camera. Don’t be confrontational, but also don’t skulk around in the shadows, as both approaches can cause problems.

Just be open and reasonable when dealing with people, and don’t push your luck if someone objects to you taking their picture.

For both distant and close-up candids, it also helps to take lots of pictures of other things first – this not only makes people aware of your camera, but also gives the impression that you’re interested in shooting everything around you, not just them (even if you’re not!).

This has the added advantage of making them feel less self-conscious, which will result in more natural-looking portraits.

]]>As part of our ongoing series to help you get more creative with your digital camera, each month we publish some fun, seasonal, creative photo ideas to help inspire your imagination. Along with some amazing images, we’ve also provided some quick photography tips by both amateur and professional photographers who are experts in these fields.

We’re kicking off April with a slew of fun projects like creating street collages, photographing baby birds, finding numbers in nature, getting abstract with portraits and, as you’ll see below, becoming more in tune with the natural world. We also have many other creative photography projects that are perfect for this time of year.

On each page you’ll find a stunning image and an explanation from the photographer on how it was made.

Creative photo ideas for April: 01 Shoot a natural history sequence

Here’s a creative idea for a rewarding photo project to start this month. Creating a sequence composite can bring a subject to life in a way that few other photographs can, but it demands both patience and quick reactions in equal measure.

“I bought this African Moon Moth as a cocoon,” says nature photographer Alex Hyde, “but I have produced similar work with native UK insect species I found in my garden.

“Moth cocoons can take months to emerge, so the real art is being there at the right time. I kept the cocoon in a mesh tent near my computer so that I stood a chance of noticing it emerge.

“The moth makes a rustling noise as it squeezes out of its cocoon, so once the rustling began, I only had a short time to set everything up.

“I secured a twig in front of a white background and clamped two Canon 580EXII Speedlites with diffusers in place to light the background and twig separately.

My Canon EOS 5D Mark II with 100mm macro lens was mounted on a tripod. Triggering the flashes with a Pocket Wizard system, I checked that I was obtaining a pure white background.

“To make sure of this, I stick to Manual mode for both camera and flashes. If you rely on TTL metering, the exposure could change as the moth’s wings expand and take up more of the frame. Sticking to a plain background makes the construction of the composite a bit easier.”

Get started today…
* You can buy butterfly and moth pupae and larvae from specialists such as Worldwide Butterflies (www.wwb.co.uk). Ensure you have suitable housing and a good supply of food.
* “If obtaining a moth cocoon is too tricky,” suggests Alex, “why not try a sequence of a snail emerging from its shell?”
* Shoot a larger creature, such as a bird taking off. Set the camera to its fastest drive setting.
* Click here to see more of Alex’s insect photography

]]>http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/04/01/9-creative-photo-ideas-to-try-in-april-2014/feed/0Urban photography: how to blur people in busy city sceneshttp://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/02/23/urban-photography-how-to-blur-people-in-busy-city-scenes/
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2014/02/23/urban-photography-how-to-blur-people-in-busy-city-scenes/#commentsSun, 23 Feb 2014 00:01:16 +0000http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/?p=552027A great way to add drama to your urban photography is to add motion blur to pictures of busy city scenes. In this tutorial we'll show you how to set up your camera and use an ND filter to allow you to use a slow enough shutter speed to do so.

]]>A great way to add drama to your urban photography is to add motion blur to pictures of busy city scenes. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to set up your camera and use an ND filter to allow you to use a slow enough shutter speed to do so.

Want to learn how to speed up time? Just slow down your DSLR. Adding a blur of pedestrians is a quick and easy way to spice up any urban photography, as it creates a feeling of bustle in an otherwise static shot of the streets.

If you’re shooting during the day, you’ll need to use an ND filter to allow you to set a slow shutter speed. You’ll also need a tripod to enable you to keep your camera still for seconds at a time.

Scout out a location for your urban photography that has a steady footfall of passing people. We shot early in the morning outside a train station to capture the rush of commuters.

Another classic place to try is a busy city bridge. If you’re standing in the middle of it, passing people will have no choice but to walk towards and then around you.

You’ll end up with rushing streams of people that look really dynamic. Busy pavements will work too.

Wherever you choose for your urban photography project, stand somewhere safe and away from traffic, as you’ll have to stay put for a while, and don’t pick somewhere so busy that people will trip over you or your tripod.

How to add motion blur to your urban photography

01 Slow it down
First, select RAW+Fine in the Image Quality menu for easy cropping later. Switch to Manual mode and select a slow shutter speed. We found that anything from one to two seconds gave us a good blur. Pick an aperture of something like f/8 and an ISO of 200.

02 Get shooting
Take some test shots of passing pedestrians and check the photos to see if they’re looking right: the people should be blurred but distinguishable, and the background should be sharp. Try to find an angle that lets you fill your scene with a steady flow of bodies.

03 Vary your angle
When you’ve got the essentials of this technique right, see where else you can shoot from. Try a perpendicular shot for a passing blurry wall of commuters, or get low and capture the feet of people walking by. Shooting a pedestrian crossing worked well for us.

04 Freeze your friends
Create a dynamic urban portrait by asking a friend to stand completely still while the crowd blurs around them. You’ll probably need a shorter shutter speed for this. We switched to 1/6th of a second, which let our model Dan stay frozen while people streamed past him.

The long exposure toolkit

Three legs good
A decent tripod like our trusty Uni-Loc 1600 is essential to keep your camera still during long exposures. If you’re shooting in crowds, a heavier one will keep your camera safer if it does get bumped into.

Filter it out
If you’re shooting in the daytime you’ll need to use an ND filter like this variable one from SRB Photographic to compensate for the bright conditions. You won’t need one if you’re shooting indoors or in late evening light.

Go remote
We’ve always got our Nikon MC-DC2 remote cable release in our camera bag. It’s not essential, but it’s a big help for long exposures, as you won’t accidentally jog the camera when you press the shutter button.